Page 27 - 2024-2025 Travel Guide to California

THE SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (SFMOMA),
right, is one of the largest museums in the country and one of the
world’s biggest museums dedicated to modern and contemporary
art; The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, below.
San Francisco’s Legion of Honor, in
Lincoln Park, holds an extraordinary per-
manent collection and hosts top-notch
exhibitions from around the world. In
nearby Golden Gate Park, the de Young
showcases the arts of Africa, Oceania and
the New World. The San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) spans
seven dazzling floors of galleries and
45,000 square feet of free public art space.
Across the Bay, the Oakland Museum of
California (OMCA) is a museum, garden,
and gathering place dedicated to California
art, history and natural sciences.
Down the coast, the Santa Barbara
Museum of Art deserves a nod for its ambi-
tious and imaginative exhibitions. San
Diego’s Museum of Contemporary Art fea-
tures a variety of exhibits in the historic
Jacobs Building downtown. Its oceanfront
La Jolla property reopened last year after a
major expansion project which quadrupled
the gallery space, making room for its
4,700-piece collection of contemporary art.
For photography buffs, there’s the excellent
Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa
Park, as well as Pier 24 Photography
Museum in San Francisco.
Science
The California Science Center in Los
Angeles’ Exposition Park presents exhibits
for all ages on invention, space travel and
life sciences—many of them interactive, all
of them free! Ice Age enthusiasts and
fossil-philes will love the popular and
gloriously sticky La Brea Tar Pits and
Museum, an active geological site in mid-
town. San Francisco’s California Academy
of Sciences, in Golden Gate Park, features
the impressive Steinhart Aquarium, the
walk-through Osher Rainforest with free-
flying birds and butterflies, the Morrison
Planetarium which boasts one of the
world's largest all-digital domes, and a
“Living Roof” which was planted with
1.7 million native California plants. At
Piers 15 and 17 on the Embarcadero, the
legendary Exploratorium houses more
than 600 interactive exhibits—including
an amazing “Tinkerer’s Clock” and the
crawl-through Tactile Dome.
Designed for explorers under ten,
Sausalito’s Bay Area Discovery Museum is
a pint-sized wonderland dedicated to
promoting creative thinking. And, while
not a museum per se, the Monterey Bay
Aquarium deserves to be included among
the Wonders of the World for its aston-
ishing displays of sea otters and jellies,
mesmerizing three-story kelp forest and a
staggering million-gallon “Open Sea” tank.
Culture
California is a rare and enduring alloy of
more than 50 immigrant cultures. Its
museums reflect the racial diversity and
cultural history of this melting pot in
microcosm. What follows is but a sample;
there are many, many more to choose from.
San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish
Museum and Museum of the African Dias-
pora (MoAD) provide fascinating insights
into two of California’s most creative ethnic
traditions. A visit to the Asian Art Museum
in Civic Center is the next best thing to a
trip along the ancient Silk Road.
In Long Beach, the Museum of Latin
American Art (MoLAA) features contem-
porary works of the New World. San Diego’s
tiny-but-mighty New Americans Museum
honors the cultural diversity of immigrants
through art and storytelling in Liberty
Station. The Women’s Museum of California
is dedicated to women’s history and to
celebrating women's diverse contributions
to society.
2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA 25